Thai fans dispute referee mistakes in Vietnam clash

"Many Vietnamese fans are criticizing referee Saoud Ali Al-Adba. They said his decisions were unfair," account @4572781 opened the topic on Pantip right after Thailand won 2-0 against Vietnam on Thursday night.

Under the topic, many comments added the ref didn’t fulfill his duty during the game.

"It’s normal (for Vietnamese fans) to be angry. Because if we are in their situation, we would be fuming too," account @6712824 responded.

"The ref couldn’t keep up with the game," account @6046847 commented.

Qatar ref Al-Adba made many controversial decisions in the game. He ignored a clear foul when Teerathon Bunmathan elbowed Nguyen Quang Hai in the face. Later, he only gave keeper Chatchai Budprom a yellow card instead of a red when he came out of the box to foul Nguyen Van Toan and directly prevented him from scoring. At the end of the match, he denied a penalty to Vietnam when a Thai player let the ball hit his hand after an attempt of clearance.

"The referee was terrible. But both teams suffered from his decisions not just Vietnam," @6654029 wrote. Another account, @Man’s watchdog said: "Thailand were lucky. Keeper Chatchai could have got a red card. A Thai player also touched the ball with his hand inside the box."

There are also Thai fans who defended the ref. @BlackMind wrote: "The ref made the right calls. There are still two defenders behind the keeper when he fouled Van Toan so it can’t be a red card.

"The ball did hit the hand of a Thai player, but the referee didn’t give a penalty because it wasn’t intentional," @TheRational commented.

"The referee followed the rules in these situations. He just couldn’t keep up in some others," @959522 wrote.

Vietnam will need at least two goals difference in the second leg of the semifinals on Dec. 26 to advance to the AFF Cup final.